


oh! very clever, bear boy

by trinitarias



Category: TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Brief Mentions of Supernatural Elements, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-18
Updated: 2020-11-18
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:49:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,050
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27480751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trinitarias/pseuds/trinitarias
Summary: POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF CHOI SOOBINWerewolf (too obvious?)Changeling (too European?)Goblin (not a Kim)Mermaid (can speak??)Tikbalang (doesn’t look like a horse at all…looks like a prince reallyCHOI BEOMGYU FOCUS)“You do realize this is kind of weird,” Yeonjun says unhelpfully.Choi Beomgyu is either the most perceptive person in the world or the dumbest. You just have to ask the right people.
Relationships: Choi Beomgyu/Choi Soobin
Comments: 33
Kudos: 121
Collections: txt fic fest





	oh! very clever, bear boy

**Author's Note:**

> > prompt #1: character A has a growing suspicion that the person who moved in to the apartment across the hall isn't... completely human.
> 
> dear prompter: writing this was a joy and i hope it can make you smile as much as it did me. huge thanks to [trin](https://twitter.com/deviljis) for being so patient with me during the beta-reading process, i cant say it enough times! and: i ran a bit with the prompt, i am only a little sorry. 

There are many moments in Beomgyu’s life to choose from where Things Started To Go Downhill. Such as: when he realized he was probably not straight and his mom caught him in a possibly compromising position with a girlfriend back when he was 16, when someone told him they were from an entertainment agency, were actually from a cult and almost kidnapped him at 17, when he punched a guy in the face for cat-calling his mom and ended up with a few broken fingers at 18.

But the first time he saw Him, everything changed, so he supposes that’s the real reason for his spring semester to go downwards so quickly.

It starts normally enough: he’s moving into his best friend’s building as a reward for doing so well in his freshman year and nothing tastes as sweet as leaving the dorms and making the executive decision to live with Yeonjun.

Choi Yeonjun, 21, his sister sign, best and worst human at the same time, dance major and one of the first real living people Beomgyu ever thought as someone to look up to. Their first real conversation goes a little like this:

“Hey,” Yeonjun says, blue hair – at the time – lovely brown eyes and sweating around 2 liters of water. “Are you sure you’re okay? You’ve been staring at me and missing the counts.”

“I’m in love with you,” Beomgyu blurts out.

Yeonjun wrinkles his nose in distaste and replies, “You better not mean that. Now let’s do the second chorus again.”

By the time tutoring-practice is over, they’re so tired they crumple to the floor right then and there, breathing heavily and not ready to get up anytime soon. Here’s the thing though: Beomgyu needs a clear answer and figures he’s already dug a hole for himself when he said what he said, so what if he digs a little deeper? With all the courage he can muster he asks Yeonjun, “Will you go on a date with me?”

“No. I’m ace.”

He frowns at the ceiling. “I know you’re the ace of the dance department and –”

“No. I’m _ace_ ,” he says again but with more feeling this time, trying to get up and failing miserably.

“—there are a lot of amazing people in your year and this is only my minor but I –”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re kind of… dumb?” Yeonjun wonders, a little incredulous.

They become inseparable after that. Sometimes it’s really that easy.

Geumho-dong is a sleepy neighborhood and the building itself isn’t new but it isn’t old either, it’s far enough from Hanyang that he has to get up earlier than he used to but he thinks it’s worth it: he’ll have a room he won’t have to share with enough space to actually stretch his legs, there’s a laundry room in every floor so he can procrastinate on it as long as he wants to and it won’t be too disastrous, an almost decent view of the city and most importantly, Yeonjun.

There’s also a ghost in their kitchen. But it’s cool, he likes ghosts. Yeonjun on the other hand doesn’t believe and hates it when Beomgyu tries to talk to her. He’ll get him around her though. Eventually.

He’s getting the last of his things into the apartment when the elevator opens and that’s when Beomgyu sees Him. Walking into the hallway is a very _very_ tall person and he isn’t short; when Beomgyu says tall he means Almost Tree Like, If I Was a Baby Bear I Would Probably Attempt to Climb You, seemingly fluffy purple hair (who has purple hair in this day and age besides idols? Is he an idol? No way), big round glasses, soft looking cheeks and one of if not The Most Handsome face he’s seen in a long time.

When he sees Beomgyu standing frozen in front of Yeonjun’s door, he blinks his freakishly big eyes, says, “Oh! I haven’t seen you before. Are you new here? I’m Choi Soobin,” and _smiles_.

He is immediately suspicious. What if Beomgyu was a serial killer? What if he’s a thief, breaking into Yeonjun’s apartment? This person truly has no sense of self- preservation or danger whatsoever. He’d like to have some words with his parents, something like _do you know your child speaks to sketchy strangers on the streets, not that I am one but what if I was?_

And then something hits him: maybe he doesn’t need to have it because he is the danger himself.

_Oh my god._

Making sure to not drop his two remaining boxes, staring transfixed at this _Choi Soobin_ person and punching Yeonjun’s code into the keypad, he answers very quickly, “Hello, yes, nice to meet you, I’m Choi Beomgyu, goodbye!”

He closes the door in the guy’s face. Breathes out. That was close.

Soobin thinks he’s cute.

Beomgyu keeps tabs on Him. His mom has always told him to trust his gut feelings on people, public transportation and restaurants he goes to for the very first time and those are words he lives by; they’ve never failed him. This is what he notices: He goes _somewhere_ most nights and comes home very late, but every full and new moon he’s much, much later and covered in – dirt? Leaves? And sometimes he’s wet from head to toe when there hasn’t been any rain. It’s weird as fuck. So he makes a list. It reads as such:

**POSSIBLE ORIGINS OF CHOI SOOBIN**

  1. Werewolf (too obvious?)
  2. Changeling (too European?)
  3. Goblin (not a Kim)
  4. Mermaid (can speak??)
  5. Tikbalang (doesn’t look like a horse at all… ~~looks like a prince really~~ CHOI BEOMGYU FOCUS)



“You do realize this is kind of weird,” Yeonjun says unhelpfully from his bed when Beomgyu decides to show him his progress on a darling Saturday morning, interrupting his sleep by plopping down on his bed with all the authority he doesn’t have and forcibly waking him up with the promise of breakfast. “Don’t you? Please tell me you do.”

Beomgyu can’t believe this kind of accusation. He’s literally keeping an eye out for everyone in their building; they should be _paying_ him for his detective work. So he puts on his whiniest voice and defends himself with, “I was always doing laundry when he came in! You know I always do it too late…”

Yeonjun looks at him like he doesn’t believe him. Outrageous.

“I have reasons to be suspicious!” he pouts while Yeonjun keeps looking completely unimpressed, “he’s too tall –”

“He’s as tall as Hueningie!”

“I don’t even know who that is!”

“You met him at the party last weekend? You said he was adorable and your new best friend?”

A light bulb goes _ting!_ in his head and suddenly he remembers the pretty boy who said _hi! Let’s go get bubble tea!_ a few days ago with all the familiarity of a close friend. At the time he had no idea of whom the boy was but just went with the flow because sometimes it just is like that. Now that he knows and feels a little guilty, he tells himself _I Will Be The Absolute Best Friend That Boy Will Ever Have_ _or I Won’t Forgive Myself For Forgetting About Him._

“First of all, I would never betray you like that,” he starts and Yeonjun smiles at him, something small and not fully awake yet. Beomgyu thinks _soft bitch_ and pretends he doesn’t love his best friend, “and second of all, you know I am not responsible for my actions during any party, ever.”

Yeonjun grunts in acknowledgement because yes, he unfortunately does know.

“Now get up. Soup’s getting cold and I need to talk to you more about the mermaid theory.”

“There’s more?”

He scoffs. “Of course there’s more.”

The night of the party, Hueningkai drinks just enough to feel euphoric. When he’s skipping back home, he sees exactly the person he was thinking about: Soobin hyung, sitting on a bench close to the river and he appears to be talking to someone, very animatedly at that. He does not think this strange. Geumho-dong is a pretty safe neighborhood and if Soobin refused to come with him to this party to sit on a bench at some ungodly hour of the night … That’s Valid in Hueningkai’s book. Sometimes introverts are like that, he thinks. Probably.

He can’t see exactly who it is he’s talking to. But he has to share the intel he has with him, so he gets closer and yells, “SOOBIN HYUNG, I HAVE GOOD NEWS FOR YOU.”

Soobin turns around, spooked. Hueningkai peers at him and notices he’s alone. Huh.

“Hueningkai!” he says with a nervous smile. “What’s up?”

“I think I met the boy you were gushing about!” he yells without any care about his volume as he decides to sit by Soobin’s side.

His eyes spark with interest. Hueningkai starts counting with his fingers, “His name was Beomgyu, he looked like a bear, said he was my new best friend, how he couldn’t believe a Choi Soobin with such fluffy hair existed, that it had to be some kind of witchcraft for him to live right in his floor –”

Before he can keep going Soobin takes his hand and says, “Let’s get you home. But _please_ tell me more about this new best friend of yours.”

It’s mid-April and soon enough it will be exam season and Beomgyu is terrified as he is tired, which is: very. He’s been daydreaming about his bed for hours now but when he steps out of the elevator and sees his beautiful, charismatic and stupid best friend talking to Possibly A Werewolf Choi Soobin he bolts right back in and presses the G button as fast as humanly possible. He runs out of the building into the closest bubble tea shop and orders the first thing that’s on the drawn menu because his brain is still going _DANGER! DANGER!_

He ends up with an overpriced large cup of tamarind and tamarillo mint green tea. He hates it.

Exactly 30 minutes later, Beomgyu takes the stairs and barges into their apartment, takes his shoes off, quickly bows to their kitchen ghost and slides into the living room. Yeonjun’s sprawled on the couch with a bowl of popcorn on his lap, watching something that looks suspiciously like _Say Yes to the Dress._ He’s about to ask him if it’s the episode where Pnina surprises the girl with her holy presence when he remembers what he saw earlier, which was: treason of the highest degree.

“I saw you talking to Him!” Beomgyu hisses, pointing an accusing finger towards Yeonjun. “I thought I could trust you!”

“Gyu, he’s literally just a dude,” Yeonjun answers without taking his eyes off the TV.

“You’ve betrayed me! These days you really can’t trust anybody…” he goes into his room, closing the door as loudly as he’s able to and then yelling, “don’t talk to me ever again!”

A few moments later he hears a _thunk_ , knows that it’s Yeonjun hitting his forehead against something and feels a little satisfied.

“So you have a roommate now? I saw him move in!” Soobin smiles, eyes twinkling.

Yeonjun sighs and replies, “Yeah, he’s –”

Before he can add anything else Soobin nods and says, “he’s super cute. Are you dating him?”

In between lectures, practice and homework, he lets the CSS (Choi Soobin Situation) slip from his mind. That doesn’t stop him from looking suspiciously at his door whenever he’s about to open his; he’s constantly wondering what kind of mysteries happen in that apartment for at least five minutes, every day.

It’s early June and he’s dragging his feet to his favorite coffee shop for some fuel to get through practice when he looks around and sees his lovely Kang Taehyun talking to Choi Soobin and walking right in. He’s not only instantly awake, but fully suspicious. He hides behind a tree, not very close to the shop and waits for any of them to leave – he _has_ to warn Taehyun.

Much later, he will ask himself _why didn’t I just text him?_

He doesn’t wait long, it seems like Taehyun was merely walking Soobin to the shop itself. He heaves a sigh and starts to walk towards him, notices that Taehyun walks much faster than he thought and starts running.

“Taehyunnie,” Beomgyu pants out as soon as he’s close enough, “you need to get away from that Choi Soobin man. He’s weird.”

“Beomgyu hyung?” he says, surprised. “What are you doing? What do you mean?”

“Choi Soobin!” he wheezes.

He tilts his head to the side, eyes bright and curious. He asks, “what about Soobinnie hyung?”

“I mean… I’m not sure he’s – human? He’s so…”

Taehyun’s eyes positively sparkle; he looks like he’s trying very hard not to laugh. Beomgyu knows people react differently to being unnerved; this could very well be Kang Taehyun as close to a nervous breakdown as he’s going to get, so he doesn’t comment on it. He can be an idiot sometimes but he’s not that insensitive.

“Hyung,” he says very seriously, “I thought the exact same thing. I’ve been investigating him too, isn’t it weird how he –”

“YES!” Beomgyu screams and clamps his own mouth shut immediately. He whispers, “We should talk about this somewhere else. Come on; let’s get ice cream or something before I die in rehearsal.”

Days later, Taehyun sits in Soobin’s couch and tells him all about this little encounter, not bothering to contain his laughter at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation. Soobin doesn’t laugh as much as he expected him to; instead his smile looks a tiny bit nervous when he comments, “Is that so?”

_Huh,_ Taehyun thinks.

“BG,” Yeonjun starts, with a voice that tells Beomgyu he’s not going to like this topic, “I’m getting tired of your Soobin thing.”

They’re in the kitchen finishing their very elegant dinner of almost expired ramen, kimchi, rice and not quite fully cooked japchae. There’s a little offering for the ghost by the counter. Beomgyu gives him a flat stare and Yeonjun arches an eyebrow at him. Then, the worst happens: Yeonjun puts his chopsticks down. He’s serious about this.

“No, listen,” he keeps going against all obstacles, which are mainly Beomgyu’s glare and bodily harm threats, both things he can easily handle at this point. “I have a theory.”

His expression goes from predictable hostility to expected curiosity. He likes the word _theory_ and its implications, so he nods and says, “Let’s hear it, hyung.”

“You have a crush on him.”

He bursts out laughing. “No, I don’t!”

“Gyu, come on,” he rolls his eyes, forcibly grabs Beomgyu’s hand and as the weakling tries to pry his hand free, the strong one continues delivering wisdom, “the last time you talked at me – yes, _at me_ about one of your theories all you did was moon over his _fairy like eyes_ , whatever that means!” he spits out, disgusted.

“Junnie hyung please, I’m weak.”

“– and when you started to worry about him, oh my god!” he makes his voice a pitch lower and keeps going, “YJ, He got home last night soaked from head to toe. Do you think he’s okay? Junnie hyung, can you ask him if what he does is dangerous? Yeonjun hyungie, can you ask him if he’s okay? He looked pale last night…”

Beomgyu presses his lips into a thin line because all of those things are true and what the hell. How did he not notice?

His ears feel hot and that’s all the confirmation he needs. He feels betrayed by his own body _. Can’t talk yourself out of this one, Beomie!_ his treacherous ears seem to tell him.

“Hyung,” he groans, “you’re right. I hate this. Why didn’t you stop me?”

“Once you’ve made up your mind about something it’s almost impossible to make you listen to reason, baby bear,” he says, fondness and exasperation loud and clear in his voice. His grip is no longer punishing, it’s comfortable, soft.

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” he asks.

“Yes,” Yeonjun answers immediately.

Beomgyu goes to great lengths to avoid Not a Crush Choi Soobin and he has to work very hard because suddenly he is everywhere: Beomgyu sees him at the coffee shop closest to his faculty and runs right back out to hide in the bushes, he sees him in his building at least 50% more times than he ever has and waits for at least 20 minutes just to be certain that he will not be outside his apartment when Beomgyu gets to their floor. Through some mysterious means he’s always right outside the Orchestration II classroom by the time his lecture is over so Beomgyu opts for waiting until everyone is out and leaves through the window. He’s very grateful it’s on the ground floor.

He doesn’t really want to mention accidentally falling down the stairs when Soobin smiled and waved at him all the way from across a hallway so he won’t.

What he doesn’t know is that Soobin purposefully does all those things because he thinks Beomgyu’s reactions are cute. When it’s his turn to host movie night, apartment free of any mysterious or creepy devices, he tells Hueningkai and Taehyun about it with a delighted look on his face.

“You’re a demon, hyung,” is what Hueningkai has to say with a horrified expression as he sits down on the couch with a gummy bear bowl.

“Deserve,” is what Taehyun has to say with a satisfied look, stealing the bowl from Hueningkai’s hands.

“I can’t believe I’m going to date him,” Soobin adds with a sickening sigh, melting into the couch and hugging a cushion.

Hueningkai blinks at him, forgetting to whine at Taehyun for being a thief. “What do you mean you’re going to date him?” and he squeals, “are you _asking him out_?!”

“Next week!” he announces brightly, eyes crinkling. Hueningkai high fives him.

“You’re both ridiculous,” Taehyun tells him with confidence, “you deserve each other.”

“I know,” Soobin says, cheek completely mushed against the couch and a blissful look on his face.

It happens when Beomgyu least expects it, that is to say: he wasn’t expecting it at all. He’s approximately 25 steps from home, thinking about Yoongi’s words on his newest composition, humming a possible new chord progression and not minding his surroundings very much – the worst mistake he could make in this situation.

“Choi Beomgyu,” a familiar voice calls.

The only reason he turns around is because he is not thinking, but when he does he lets out an embarrassing loud squeal which makes Choi Soobin smile a very small _endeared_ smile and scratch his cheek shyly. Beomgyu takes him in: fluffy looking white sweater, dark jeans, faded pink hair, soft eyes and he knows that there’s no coming back from this one.

“Yes?” he mumbles meekly, looking at him through his eyelashes. Thinks really hard _please don’t kill me for having a crush on you._

“Will you go on a date with me?”

He stares at Soobin, incredulous; points at himself and squawks out, “Me?”

“No,” he rolls his eyes, demeanor going from shy and bashful to confident in a second, “the ghost that lives in your apartment.”

“How do you know about that?” he asks with a non-intimidating glare that he knows makes him look cute. He’s _tired_.

Soobin looks like he regrets saying anything at all and starts fiddling with his hands, nervous again. He blurts out, “Yeonjun hyung told me about it! I swear he did.”

He squints at Soobin, imagining he’s squeezing the truth out of him and he fidgets with his sweater. “Stop looking at me like that, please,” he whines, making himself look smaller. Beomgyu is gone, has been for a while now. His brain tells him; _follow your gut, Choi Beomgyu. It’s never failed you._

“Choi Soobin,” he announces without much fanfare, “I will go on a date with you.”

Soobin _whoops_. He’s so surprised he burst out laughing, mirth accidentally making itself known.

He asks, “Can I hug you?” and Beomgyu nods before he finishes the question.

He’s instantly fully enveloped in what becomes one of his Top Three Hugs of All Time. Soobin leans down a little bit, tucking himself against him, natural as breathing and full of affection. Beomgyu feels today’s weariness seep out of him in his arms; he feels safe and protected, warm but not uncomfortable. He thinks _hugging you will be my favorite thing to do_ and clings harder to him, closing his eyes and breathing him in.

He doesn’t know for how long they stand there, but he’s trying really hard to not fall asleep. He hears a soft click and then –

“Are my eyes deceiving me,” Yeonjun says from their door, “or did you confess?”

Soobin’s _YES_ is loud enough for Yeonjun to hear but muffled from not letting go, saying it directly into Beomgyu’s neck. If he had any energy left he’d say something dramatic like _must you betray me every twist and turn?_ Instead, he frees himself from Soobin for a second, turns around to face Yeonjun, crosses his arms, continues to let Soobin back hug him, and sticks his tongue out at him.

Justice has been served for today.

Their first date goes like this:

“I saw you walk out of the bushes that one time,” Soobin mentions off-handedly as he picks a new song for DDR, “there were leaves in your hair. You looked cute.”

“I know,” Beomgyu says, because he does know. “I took a few selcas. Do you want them?”

“Let’s make a bet. If I win the next 2 rounds I’ll get those and if you win –“

“You’ll tell me what your full moon escapades are all about,” he challenges, ready to fight. He briefly sees a flash of alarm in Soobin’s eyes and makes a quick decision.

He doesn’t win. Soobin’s mocking laughter follows him for days and secretly, he smiles to himself.

It’s early October and they’re cuddling in Soobin’s bed, watching Itaewon Class for the 3rd time when he says, “Gyu, look at me.”

He looks up, and Soobin is already looking at him. He seems worried and if the fingers tightening and loosening around Beomgyu’s waist are any indication, he’s nervous too. He can see exactly where this is going.

“Don’t worry, hyung,” he says, patting Soobin’s arm lightly. “I love you too.”

“What?” he answers, bafflement clear in his face. “Oh no! I mean, yes, I do love you but that’s not it.”

Beomgyu frowns. Soobin sighs, ruffles his own hair and says, “I don’t know how to say this so – I see ghosts.” He admits, so fast it sounds like a single word, _Iseeghosts_. “I’m a medium. My full moon escapades as you like to call them are just me trying to help them with their burdens so they can move on.”

Slowly, he answers, “Are you telling me you’ve been trying to banish my kitchen ghost or something?”

Soobin throws a pillow at him, making Beomgyu bark out a laugh. He whines, “You’re not taking me seriously! Is that really all you have to say?”

“Yes! I always knew you were special, hyung. I just didn’t know _how_ ,” he explains himself and coos at Soobin’s sudden blush. Hugging the recently thrown pillow, he adds, “I’m glad you’re not a werewolf though. I do _not_ want to be called furry,” he shudders.

Soobin groans, blush still high on his cheeks. “You’re ridiculous, did you know that?”

“Yes, but you love me and I’m _hoping_ this means we’re going to hunt ghosts together now. That’s a thing you want to do. Right?” he asks, puppy dog eyes full on display. There’s no way it isn’t going to work.

Soobin looks at him like he can’t believe he’s real, incredulous and relieved. He’s stopped fidgeting too, hands firm on his waist and legs tangled together. Beomgyu can feel Soobin’s toes wiggling against his ankles, thinks _gross!_ and wiggles his own back.

He bumps his forehead against Beomgyu’s and breathes out, “I love you.”

His eyes glint, amused and bright. “I love you too. You may now kiss your boyfriend.”

“Oh my god. Shut up.”

And they kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> title is from _10 things i hate about you _altered from the original. thank you so much to the fest mods for being so encouraging and kind and thank you for reading! ♡ ♡ ♡__


End file.
